30

Kai sat in Connell's living room, thinking up a new way to torture her. It was getting boring, mainly because she had stopped reacting. Her eyes would glaze over, becoming dark and blank, and she would obey his every command without question.

That wasn't what he wanted.

He liked seeing the panic in her eyes and hearing her desperate pleas.

'But what can I do to break you?' he wondered.

Nothing seemed to phase her. He had forced her to do the most humiliating things, but she had not batted an eyelid. He'd made her masturbate in front of him. He'd tipped over the bin and made her eat rubbish from the floor. One time he told her to go to school with no underwear and take a picture.

She did it without so much as a word.

'What will she refuse to do?' Kai wondered.

He wasn't willing to go as far as forcing sex on her. That would be rape.

Being a bully was one thing. Being a rapist was a whole different ball game.

'But why?' Kai wondered. 'Why aren't I prepared to go that far?'

He looked